It is ten years since Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the world road cycling championship. A decade later, she became the Olympic mountain bike champion. She did it after being the best on the Elancourt hill. From there, she could see the Eiffel Tower before her compatriots. Now, at the age of 32, she has decided to return to the road and quit mountain biking, having achieved what was missing from her list of achievements. 

She has signed up with one of the best teams in the world, the Dutch Visma Lease a Bike squad, who have signed her to a three-year contract starting next season and in which she has set herself the highest of goals.

"I'm sure I can do great things again, so I'm very motivated. I want to win the women's Tour de France," she said. She is undoubtedly an all-round cyclist with a unique potential that allowed her to become the first woman to win all three world titles - road, cyclo-cross and mountains - in 2015. Unprecedented.

Visma team manager Rutger Tijssen is delighted with Ferrand-Prévot's arrival. "Pauline is an exceptionally talented athlete. She decided a few years ago to dedicate herself entirely to mountain biking. With her Olympic gold medal, she has now completed her mountain bike career. I admire her for taking the courageous decision to return to the road with a clear goal: to win the women's Tour de France.

Ferrand-Prevot was part of the Ineos mountain bike team, another of the world's strongest squads. They also won gold in the men's race with Tom Pidcock. The Briton is similar to Ferrand-Prevont. He is capable of winning races in cyclo-cross, mountain biking or the world's best classics, such as the Amstel Gold Race or stages of the Tour de France that finish on Alpe d'Huez.

Ferrand-Prévot had just won the medal in Paris. He announced that he would retire from cycling at the end of the year. On that day he set his sights on the Tour de France, undoubtedly the most important stage race on the world calendar.

His Olympic success came after painstaking preparation, as he recalled after winning gold.  "For a few months I was like a robot, in my own bubble. I didn't talk to anyone, I just trained, ate and slept," she told the media, overjoyed at her success.

She was joined on the podium by Haley Batten (USA) and Rio 2016 champion Jenny Rissveds (SWE), who took bronze. However, both finished well behind Ferrand Prevont, who put in an exhibition performance.